Butterfinger BBs (History, Pictures & Commercials)

If you love Butterfinger Bars, you would have loved Butterfinger BBs. These are the bite-sized version of this candy treat, and they were incredibly hard to say no to. Butterfinger BBs were made with the same delightful Butterfinger recipe, but then they were turned into small, round little candies that were very easy to pop into your mouth.

If you have not been aware that these little candy treats existed, you have been missing out! This was one of the key snacks to get on the list of items that you wanted to have for a road trip or that you wanted to get at the movie theater. You were able to snack on these yummy little candies with ease, whether you were on the go or just hanging out at home.

Sadly, these little snacks have been discontinued, and you will not be able to try them if you did not enjoy them when they were on the market.

History

Butterfinger Bars were the brainchild of Otto Schnering. He was the owner of the Curtiss Candy Company, and he actually held a naming contest for the new candy bars he was going to make. This led to the unforgettable name that is so familiar today.

Once the name was determined, the candy was dropped from planes to advertise them before they landed on shelves. This kind of whimsy and in-your-face marketing has always been a big part of the Butterfinger marketing plan. Nestle bought the Butterfinger Bar in the 90s.

Nestle is the leader for creative rebranding and changes made to existing products that work out perfectly. Their reimagining of the already very famous Butterfinger Bar resulted in the formation of the Butterfinger BBs. These little snacks were looped into the already well-established Simpsons-based marketing campaign that was running at the time. This made the new form of these candies an instant hit, and the Butterfinger BB was well on its way to joining the Bar as part of the best-selling products in the Nestle stable.

Nestle also sells some variants of this candy like the Snackerz, which are like very small and flat Butterfinger Bars wrapped in chocolate, and they added Bites to the list of products under this umbrella in 2009. All of these candies that are offshoots of the Butterfinger bar in their original form still offer the classic Butterfinger taste, but they are made in different sizes and might have more or less chocolate on them.

The Butterfinger BB is like a small, round version of the original candy bar. You will still get all of the flavors that you love without having to carry around a large candy bar to be eaten all at once. These little snacks are easy to enjoy on the go, as mentioned before, and they are sold in handy carrying bags that are able to be sealed again for freshness.

The original idea was that the Butterfinger BBs would compete with Whoppers and Maltesers, but the taste profile of the BBs candy was so uniquely linked to the Butterfinger Bar that people were not reminded of the other products that share the same shape. Maltesers and Whoppers are unique candy products that contain enough malt flavoring to make them nothing at all like the Butterfinger BBs.

This kind of eventuality was not a complaint of any of the consumers buying the BBs, however. It turns out that everyone enjoyed the taste of the Butterfinger Bar enough that there was no need to worry about competing with other candies that had the same shape. The taste and snackable nature of the Butterfinger BB were more than enough to make these little treats a hit, even if they were not a competitor of the Malteser or the Whopper.

The Butterfinger BBs was discontinued in 2006. There was no real reason given by Nestle at the time, and people went so far as to petition for it to return. There have been a few other snacks that have been resurrected from the dead recently, but there is no word from the current owner if they will bring back the beloved Butterfinger BBs. Since the change of hands, there has been no new information or communication about BBs or some of the other beloved versions of other products in the lineup. Fans may not be able to enjoy their well-loved Butterfinger BBs ever again.

Some people have speculated that the melty nature of this candy led to its demise. This might have been a consideration, as these candies were a bit messy to eat, and they could easily melt inside the bag if they were left in the sun for too long. This never seemed to be a complaint that anyone voiced, however, and many people happily ate these little candies without issues for years, melty chocolate or not.

It is more likely that the Butterfinger BBs just went the way of a lot of snacks that were very popular in the 90s. Snack foods are not as popular as they once were, and there is no need for many different variants of the same exact candy these days. This does not sit well with those who were passionate about the Butterfinger BBs, but the reality is that there were probably too many other candies on the market at the time that the decision was made.

Another factor that has likely led to the lack of response by the Ferrara candy company is the current owners, which is that the recipe for Butterfinger was changed in 2018. The move of some of the production to other locations might have necessitated this change, or it might have been that the new company wanted to make things better or change them to try to freshen things up.

The company stated that they were trying to make the brand get back on track with its former quality. They did report that Butterfinger Bars had greatly declined in sales over the five years before Ferrara purchased it, and this could have been part of the reason for discontinuing the additional offshoot products that were being sold.

Many fans of the Butterfinger Bar have reported that the changes have not been to the benefit of the candy bar, but the ingredients that are included now are healthier. The TBHQ was removed, and so was the hydrogenated oil. This might have led to a healthier taste, but some people have complained that it makes the Butterfinger Bar dry and less buttery.

Time will tell about the fate of the Butterfinger Bar and Butterfinger BBs. There are many people who fear that Butterfinger Bars might not be likely to last for many more years. Fans who have already lost their Butterfinger BBs will be even more upset if their Butterfinger Bars are taken away too!

Changes to the Recipe to Meet European Standards

It does appear that the Ferrara company has made some of the changes to the product lineup that are in place to try and sell the candy in other markets. Many foreign markets will not allow GMO foods and products to be sold in their country. This has removed many of the markets for candies that were made with older manufacturing styles and ingredients that do not meet the standards of other countries. While the current changes seem not to have made Germany and other countries that do not allow GMO products accept Butterfinger, that is likely the hope of Ferrara at this time.

Know that when you travel, you will not see Butterfinger Bars in the countries that adhere to Greenpeace and are trying to make sure that no GMO foods are sold in their country. Maybe Ferrara will eventually get these products moved into this new market and become more open to revivals of older items like BBs.

This might require a major reworking of the original recipe to make sure that the BBs will hold together. They are not likely to be easy to make without some of the removed ingredients, and this might hold off any efforts to bring BBs back to the market in the US as well as abroad.

Logo

Ingredients

Since the Butterfinger BBs is now not on shelves, the ingredients for the candy bar will be the closest to what the BB would have contained. This is a close approximation since the candies were made to be just like Butterfinger Bars but smaller.

• Corn syrup
• Sugar
• Peanuts
• Vegetable oil (palm kernel and palm oil)
• Peanut flour
• Nonfat milk
• Less than 2% of cocoa, milk, salt
• Soy lecithin
• Natural flavor
• Annatto color

The safety warnings for allergies are milk, peanuts, and soy. This is not a vegan-friendly or allergen-friendly snack, which is too bad for those who would love to try the remaining versions of this candy bar that are still on the market.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 cup BB’s (174g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat	296
Calories	799
Total Fat	33g	51%
Trans Fat	0.1g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	400mg	17%
Potassium	383mg	11%
Total Carbohydrates	127g	42%
Dietary Fiber	3.5g	14%
Sugars	80g
Protein	9.4g
Vitamin A		0%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium	6.3%
Iron	7.6%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Pictures

Ads

One of the well-known Simpsons ads:

Another Simpsons Ad:

Yet another Simpsons-focused ad:

A 90s era ad: